Method of and apparatus for pumping oil-wells.



A.' SATTLER.

METHOD 0F AND APPARATUS FOB. PUMP'ING OIL WELLS.

APPLIUTION FILED JAN.16, 1908.

Patented'Aug. 9, 1910.

nu: :mman fifths ca., wAsulNa'mN. n, c.

UNITED s'rATEs PATENT oEEioE.

.ANDREW SATTLER, OF CARPINTERIA, CALIFORNIA.

METHOD F AND APPARATUS FOR BUMPING OIL-WELLS.

To all 'whom ttmay concern: i Be it known that I, ANDREW SATTLER, a;citizen of the United States, residing at Car-1 pinteria, in the countyof Santa Barbara and State of California, have invented a new and usefulMethod of `and Apparatus foi Pumping Oil-Wells, of which the following`is a specification.

In pumping the California oils from wellsf great difficult-y hasbeeiiexperienced owingl to their extreme thick, viscous nature caused?by the presence of such excessive quantities ofasphaltum as are found inmany of the1 1raised to the surface.

wells, and also to the presence of so much;

sand which ismiXed or comniingled with the oil. lIn pumping `suoli oilsi t hasbeen found.l that the movement of the oil is soslowand .sluggishthat it is very difiicultto get itinto the pump barrel, even whenthebarrel has `been submerged to aconsiderable depth,"and lafter it hasbeen drawn into the pump further difficulty has been encountered inforcingiitpast the valves and up through the `tubing and, especially,lpast the joints or couplings of the suckergrod. On account of thesedifficulties, many good wells are stand ing idle to day owing to thefact thatthe cost of `pumping,exceeds the value of the product, orleaves suoli a `narrow margin that it doesinot pay to` operate thewells.

I have discovered that by `introducing a very small quantity oflubricant, as it were, into the crude oil the latter will be so cutchemically, or rendered liquescent that it can be readily drawn intothepump and easily I have `further found that ordinary distillate,costing from two to five cents a gallon, makes a very efficientlubricant even when @introduced in a very small quantity compared withthe amount of oil* that can be readily pumped thereby, thus permittingof oil, worth from sixty to ninety cents a barrel, being pumped out ofan otherwise unproiitable well at an expenditure of only a few cents.This lubricant may be applied iny any desired manner, but Ipreferablyintroduce it upon the exterior of the pump tube, as by means of an extrapipe of exceedingly small diameter, which can be inserted into the wellto any desired depth alongside of the pump tubing". In this man-` nerthe lubricant .can be delivered to the crude oil just as it is `enteringthe lower end c of the pump, as through the ordinary perforatedstrainer, `which will cause it to be so thoroughly mixed or cominingledwith Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 16, `1908.

Serial No. 411,196.

the crude oil that said` oil 'will readily pass up through the valves ofthe pump `and can `,be `lifted up through the pump tubing with `greatease and rapidity.

I have further found that by introducing a stij'eamiof water PatentedAug. 9, 1910.

into the pump barrel that any sand or sedi-4 Ament `that may have becomepacked therein or in the tubing abovethe pump `may be ,readily forced orwashed out at the top of the well and the pump thereby cleansed and`restored to perfect working order without 4the great expense ofhavingto remove the pump and its accessories, asinust be donefto day.:The water can be introduced through `an additional pipe in the samemanner as the lubricant, or the samepipe canbe utily.ized for,both,ithenecessary arrangement being made at the lower end for delivering theAwatertothepump barieland the oil to the intakeasniay be desired.

Another object of the invention is to separate the lubricant ordistillate from the crude oil afterit has been drawn out of the well andthen using the lubricant to dis- .charge more oil inthe same ,manner asit was done originally, `thereby permitting of the same distillate beingused over and over again, which, necessarily, reduces `the cost oftheprocess ofpumping to aminimum.

In the accompanying drawings which cal, sectional view of an oil wellprovided with my apparatus adapted` to be used in accordance with mymethod or process; Fig.

`Qlisa vertical,.sectioiial view of the lower end of a well casing `withmy apparatus in position therein. Figw is `a transverse, sectional viewon the line ac3-c3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. et is a vertical, sectional view of one of 4the Jointsofthedelivery pipe showing the i use of the strainer. Fig. is a broken,vertical, sectional view ofthe pumping mechanism, showing the method ofconnecting Ithe watersupply pipe thereto.

illustrate the invention; Figurel is a vertiin the usual manner by awalking beam 7 An ordinary standing valve 8 is located at the lower endof the pump barrel 9 and an ordinary perforated strainer 10 ispreferably secured to the lower end of the standing valve 8 in theordinary manner.

Vhen distillate is introduced by means of the pipe, as shown at 11, theupper end of the pipe may be connected Vwith a pump 12, when force isneeded in addition to gravity to 'cause the distillate to be carrieddown into the crude oil in the well. In the drawings, the lower end ofthe pipe 11 is shown as terminating adjacent to the upper holes in thestrainer 10, although it may be made to terminate at any other point andstill come within the spirit of my invention.

As the amount of distillate necessary to lubricate the thickest andlowest grade of oil is very small, it can be successfully deliveredthrough pipe of extremely small caliber, three-fourths of an inch havingbeen found sufficient to cause wells that could not otherwise be pumpedwith profit to be pumped aseasily as though the crude oil were of anexceedingly high grade. In order to prevent such a frail pipe from beingbroken or damaged when used in connection with such heavy and cumbersomematerial as the pump casing, etc., I have found it desirable to providebraces or stays at intermediate points down the length of the welltubing, as, for instance, by providing each coupling 4 with a laterallyextending arm or bracket 14. The outer end of each lbracket isperforated through which the pipe 11 extends and the pipe sections arepreferably made of the same length as the tube sections so that thecouplings 15 of the pipe can rest upon the brackets 14 and thereby takethe great strain off of the pipe sections which must result when thewell is of a depth of thousands of feet. In this manner by arranging thearms in alinement with each other and forming the perforations thereinonly large enough to permit of the passage of the pipe sections, the

Vpipe may be located very close to the tubing and thus permit of a pumpof comparatively large ealiber or capacity being inserted into a casingof comparatively small diameter or area.

At the top of the well where the pipe 11 is connected with the pump 12 astrainer 1G is preferably inserted where the ends of two sections arejoined or connected by the coupling 17, as shown in Fig. 4. This willprevent any large particles of matter being carried down into thedistillate pipe which might obstruct or clog up the pipe so as toprevent the distillate or lubricant being delivered to the oil at thelower end of the pipe.

When the crude oil is delivered at the top of the well it preferablypasses through a pipe 18 into a tank 19, or directly into a still 20. Ifthe still is of sufficient capacity, the oil is passed directlythereinto and the tank is only used for surplus oil and from which theoil can be fed to the still as needed, through a pipe 21.

The still is heated in the ordinary manner by a steam boiler 22 and thetreated oil is discharged from the pipe 23 into any suitable receptacleor reservoir, not shown. During the process of distillation of the crudeoil the heat from the steam boiler is sufficient to volatilize thedistillate which has been used as the lubricant for pumping the crudeoil, as abovedescribed, which distillate and any other light oil whichmay be in the crude oil is driven oif from the still through a pipe 24into a condenser 25 from which it may be delivered to the tank 26through a pipe 27 or through a pipe 28 into any other receptacle, notshown. From the tank 26 thedistillate passes into the pump 12 throughthe pipe 29 from whence it is again passed down the pipe 11 in the samemanner as heretofore described.

From the above description, it is evident that by means of my method andimproved apparatus oil of such heavy nature as is impossible to bepumped in any other manner can be readily and cheaply pumped at a costthat is insignificant compared with 9 the value of the oil that can besecured. It also avoids the necessity of again treating the oil at thetop of the well, as by heating it in order to get it into the still asmust be done where the oil has been heated in the well by theintroduction of steam to render it more liquescent, as heretofore done.

Then it is desired to cleanse the pump f and tubino from theaccumulation of sand or other sediment, a stream of water or other thinfluid is preferably introduced into the pump barrel between the piston 8and a valve 8', as shown in Fig. 5. In this construction, the lower endof the pipe 11 is provided with an L coupling 30 and a nipple 31 whichcommunicates with the interior of the pump barrel 9. A bracket 14 ispreferably located directly below the lower end of the pipe 11 andnipple 31 to prevent the latter from being broken ofll when the pumptubing is being introduced into the well.

When using this structure the upper end of the pipe 11 can be connectedwith the pump 12 in the same manner and the pump maybe provided withwater instead of distillate which will thereby be forced down into thepump barrel with such force and volume as will cause all of the oil,sand and sediment therein and within the pump tubing to be forced out ofthe tubingof the well and the pump thereby again placed in order withoutthe necessity of lifting the same out of the well as has been necessarywith structures heretofore used. Instead of using water, distillatecould be used in the same manner, as ther-e is substantially no loss ofthe distillate When run through the tanks and still as heretoforedescribed, but it is more desirable to use the Water. After the pump andtubing have been cleansed in this manner the pump is operated in thesame manner before which will soon discharge the cleansing` element andwill begin to pump the crude oil in the same manner, as when the pumpwas ordinarily operated in the Well.

Having` described my invention, I claim;

l. The herein described method of pumping oil Wells, which consists incommingling a lubricant With the crude oil, then pumping said treatedoil from the Well, then distilling the same and driving off suchlubricant, conlensingsaid lubricant, and then again using said lubricantfor successively introducing it into the Well and commingling it Withadditional crude oil.

2. The herein described process of pumping oil Wells, which consists inintroducing a sufficient quantity of a material having less viscositythan the crude oil to render the oil so liquescent as to permit of itsbeing forced out of the Well together' with such sediment as may havecollected in the pump, then forcing` said oil and sediment out of theWell, and 'then operating,` the pump in the usual manner.

3. In an apparatus for pumping oil Wells, a pump, a still connectedtherewith, a tank connected with the still adapted to receive thelighterportion of the oil, a pump connected with said tank and a pipe connectedWith said last mentioned pump extending down into the Well in positionto deliver said lighter oils to the crude oil in the Well.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at CarpinteriaCalifornia this 6th day of January 1908.

ANDREW SATTLER. In presence of- P. C. HIGGiNs, E. P. STEVENS.

